Music News

Chief Keef made a triumphant return to his hometown of Chicago this weekend.

Hailing from the city’s South Side, the drill pioneer headlined the last day of Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival on Sunday (June 16). His setlist included classic bangers like “Faneto,” “Love Sosa,” and, of course, “Don’t Like. And as you might’ve guessed, the energy in the crowd was electric — luckily, the ground didn’t break like that viral video of a house party.

Cole Bennett, the Chicago area music director and executive behind Lyrical Lemonade told NBC 5 Chicago that Keef’s homecoming “feels like a true celebration” for the city. “He’s so integrated in Chicago and the hip-hop and music scene here. To bring him back home, in a way that feels like a true celebration,” Bennett said in an interview prior to Keef’s performance. “I truly think it will be one of the more memorable, iconic, talked about moments. Not just hip hop, live event history, but music history in general.”

The last time Keef performed live in the Chicago area was in 2012 during Lollapalooza, but he did perform in 2015 via hologram in nearby Hammond, Indiana before police shut it down because of pressure from the Chicago’s mayor’s office. In a statement, then-Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel called the rapper—who was 19 years old at the time—”an unacceptable role model” and this his music “promoted violence.” Keef retaliated by tweeting out the mayor’s phone number and said he was going to run for the mayor of Chicago.

The concert in Hammond was a “stop the violence” benefit and Keef’s first words on stage were, “If you got goals, achieve ’em. If you got dreams, believe ’em. Stop the violence, stop the killing, stop the nonsense. Let the kids grow up.” Keef couldn’t perform in Chicago at the time because two outstanding child support warrants.

Check out clips from Chief Keef’s Summer Smash performance below:

Ice Cube doesn’t think the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar is over.

While making an appearance on The Big Podcast With Shaq to promote his basketball league The Big 3, the West Coast legend was asked his thoughts on the rap battle between the two current rap heavyweights. After saying that he “approves of rap battles” and that they’re “the essence of the game,” Cube added that he thinks Lamar is winning, but doesn’t think the battle is over.

“I think Kendrick is up. He’s landed the more hard and effective punches, but that don’t mean Drake can’t get off the canvas,” he said. “If I was Kendrick, I’d stay locked and loaded just to be ready for whatever’s coming.”

Ice Cube knows a little something about rap beefs. The former N.W.A. member famously went at his former group and label, Ruthless Records, on the 1991 diss track “No Vaseline,” which many consider one of the best diss songs of all time. The rapper also feels that way. During his set at the California Roots Festival in May, the rapper told the crowd why he thinks his record is still the best: “One MC — myself — I took out four motherf—ers and the manager. You can’t beat that.”

Shaq also talked about the time Cube blocked him from releasing a Dr. Dre produced track called “That’s Gangsta” because he felt is was too “off brand” for the then-Los Angeles Laker. “He’s loved by millions, loved by kids. He already established that. And why go backward when you’re already forward? You’re already a household name,” he said.

This isn’t the only rap news Shaq has made recently. Last week, the NBA Hall of Famer made his song with the Notorious B.I.G. “You Can’t Stop the Reign” available on streaming services.

Megan Thee Stallion is enjoying her time on the road reuniting with Hotties across the country, but there is a request she has for the crowd when it comes to respecting her space.

The “Hiss” rapper played host to a pair of sold-out shows at Toyota Center in her hometown of Houston over the weekend, and one portion of Saturday night’s (June 15) concert that went viral was when Meg briefly paused to let her feelings be known about the weed being smoked around her.

“I said don’t blow that weed by me. I don’t want to be high. If I get high, the show is over,” she playfully said in footage captured by fans. “I’m going to the hospital. Call the police.”

Some in the crowd didn’t know how to react, while others laughed as Meg briefly twerked while walking across the stage, waiting for the next song to start up. The rest of the show also appeared to go on without disruption.

Plenty of Megan’s Hotties flocked to her defense on social media following the lighthearted rant.

“Megan has expressed before (in her music actually) that weed doesn’t agree with her so she lightheartedly stated the show would have to be stopped if she got high because of the negative physiological effect it has on her,” one person wrote on X. “There was no threatening and it’s her right to suggest people at HER concert keep it away from her.”

Another added, “Listen i enjoy 1 weed just as much as the next person but if you have to sneak weed into an event you need to go see that lady. It was a girl in front of me smoking at the concert last night I was so mad. Nobody wanna smell like smoke hun.”

The Hot Girl Summer Tour continues in the marijuana-friendly state of Colorado with a show at Denver’s Ball Arena on Monday night (June 17). MTS has been heating up heading into the summer, as she’ll be dropping her highly anticipated album MEGAN on June 28.

Watch the clip of Megan Thee Stallion speaking to the audience about smoking weed around her below.